Gov. Deval Patrick announces life sciences funding at Holyoke Community College

Susan Windham-Bannister, president and CEO of the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center, addresses students and guests including Holyoke Community College President Bill Messner, center, and Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick. Patrick was in Holyoke to make an announcement of a $3.8 million grant for to the life services department at the college.

more than $9 million in grants for life sciences-related capital projects in Western Massachusetts. Patrick said the grants, paid for with money from the sale of state bonds, fit in with his current budget and its emphasis on spending on infrastructure and especially on education. An educated work force is the state's biggest natural resource, Patrick said. "It is as important to us as oil is to Texas and corn is to Iowa," Patrick told a packed auditorium. The grants include $3.8 million to

for the creation of the Center for Life Sciences in the Marieb Building. It's space to be vacated by moving nursing and radiology programs to the former Grynn & Barrett photo studio building the college recently purchased. The grant is the largest received in the institution's history, sad Holyoke Community College President William F. Messner. Work on the Marieb building will not start until 2015, after the nursing and radiology programs have cleared out. he Marieb building will have the first "clean room" for training purposes in Western Massachusetts. "Our goal is to create unique resources here that can help build an innovation economy," said Susan R. Windham-Bannister, president and CEO of the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center. "Our coal is to have our students get he curricula and access to training that employers need." Industries included in life sciences include pharmaceuticals, medical devices, research and bio-informatics, or the study of complex data in the field of biology. Medical devices, like artificial joints, are the state's number one export. Also in Holyoke, the

will get $150,000 in planning-grant money, according to the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center, Windham-Bannister said the Green High Performance Computing Center will take a lead in bioinformatics, a fancy word for crunching the oceans of data generated by modern medical research. "Cloud computing and Big Data are the future of biological research," she said, referring to a system of computers in various locations working together on mammoth-sized computation tasks. The hope is that start-ups and companies already exploiting this new science in the Boston area will want an physical presence in Holyoke to take advantage of the computer center. "Even though you can access it remotely, part of their culture is they will want to be in proximity to it," she said. Through the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center, Massachusetts is investing $1 billion over 10 years in the growth of the state’s life sciences industry. These investments are being made under the Massachusetts Life Sciences Initiative, proposed by Patrick in 2007, and passed by the state Legislature and signed into law by Patrick in 2008. Also on Thursday, Patrick announced smaller grants for vocational and technical high schools and high schools in Gateway Cities in Western Massachusetts: Dean Technical High School and Holyoke High School with $195,000, Roger L. Putnam Vocational Technical Academy with $100,000, Smith Vocational and Agricultural High School with $100,000, Taconic High School in Pittsfield with $88,000 and Westfield High School with $44,333. Windham-Bannister said high schools play a crucial role in creating the next generation of workers. "When you think of biotech, you think of Ph.D's and postdoctoral researchers. You think you need at least a master;s degree to walk in the door," she said. "But the vast majority of these jobs at these companies do not require a bachelor's degree." With the money, high schools will be able to invest in renovated labs and the latest equipment, she said. She said all the grant-selection process is competitive with project funding based on the merits. Messner thanked Holyoke Community College graduate Steve Richter for his help in securing the grant for the college. Richter, president and scientific director of Microtest Labs in Agawam, has long cited the need for a trained biotech workforce. His company, which tests medications, has more than 100 employees. "He's really the one who really got it for us," Messner said. Later Thursday, Patrick and Lt. Gov. Timothy Murray visited with students and educators at the Homer Street Elementary School in Springfield to celebrate Black History Month. During the visit to Homer, Patrick and Murray toured the school with teachers and students and watched presentations by students about Martin Luther King Jr., and the challenges faced by civil rights activists. Patrick said he was proud to join the students “to celebrate the rich and diverse history that African-Americans have helped shape here in Massachusetts and around the world.” “It is important for each and every student to learn about the sacrifices our ancestors made to create a better future for us,” Patrick said. “We must invest in our children to in order to continue this model of generational responsibility for our time and for the next generation.”